knife

Chapter 240 Insidious move
(I spent the whole day at the hospital on the 6th, going through all sorts of tests, waiting in line, listening to my number being called. Looking at the diverse crowd in the hospital corridors, without exception, everyone wore a somber expression. I watched caregivers push sick children by, and occasionally saw a doctor rushing past with an oxygen tank. It's only when you're in a hospital that you realize how precious health truly is. Sadly, my health has already slipped away. For the rest of my life, I can only live cautiously, having to go to the hospital for checkups every month. Any slight disturbance will trigger a major crisis. It's truly regrettable! I wish all my fellow readers good health, a life free from illness and disaster, and peace and tranquility!)

Zhou Yi carefully inspected all the equipment on his body.

In front of him, within the network of sewer pipes stretching over a hundred meters, there were probably thousands of people gathered densely.

Everyone at this moment, just like Zhou Yi, was diligently attaching various weapons to their bodies.

The First Brigade, Azure Dragon Team, under the Action Division of the Chi Qiu Institute.

Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise belong to the Action Division of Zhi Qiu Institute. Among them, the White Tiger Brigade has been dispatched to Chang'an to be under the command of Zhang Qingyun, and its target has shifted to the interior of the pass.

From the day it was born, the Azure Dragon has been aiming at the Northern Yuan.

Without a doubt, the Azure Dragon Brigade is the most powerful of the four brigadees in the Operations Division. The combined strength of the other three brigades is roughly equivalent to that of the Azure Dragon Brigade.

Zhou Yi, the deputy head of Zhi Qiu Academy, also directly serves as the captain of the Azure Dragon Brigade.

Even the weakest member of the Azure Dragon team in terms of martial arts cultivation is at least a Solid Rank 3.

The vast majority of members are at the Qi Control stage.

Zhou Yi, for example, is at the peak of the eighth rank of Xuan Yuan, while the captains are at least at the seventh rank of Xuan Yuan.

Their equipment was designed and crafted by Li Dachui himself. Whether it was armor or a variety of weapons, Li Dachui put a lot of thought into it. Many of these items could not be mass-produced and were made by the master craftsmen who had gathered in Tai'an City over the years, hammering, chiseling, and grinding them slowly, taking countless hours to complete.

Over the years, these people have been lying in wait throughout the Yuan Dynasty, waiting for the perfect opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to the Yuan people.

For over a decade, Zhi Qiu Yuan quietly operated in Yandu, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, developing a vast network that far exceeded the Yuan people's imagination.

A powerful team that never makes a move, waiting for the perfect opportunity to achieve the best results.

Because they know that strategic opportunities like this only come once in a lifetime.

Once you miss it, it will never come again.

Yes, in Li Dachui's view, this mission of the Qinglong Brigade was a strategic strike.

Tactical victories only have a local impact. For a country like the Yuan Kingdom, no matter how many battles Li Dachui and Xiao Changche win in the southern border region, the enemy can quickly recover and regain its strength.

So what if we wipe out Jebe's entire army in southern Xinjiang this time?

The next Yuan emperor will soon send another general with tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops to visit the southern border.

Xiao Changche and Li Dachui will still be at a disadvantage.

This illustrates the saying: "Winning one battle after another, but weakening one's strength, and ultimately, through continuous victories, gradually marching towards destruction."

Zhou Yi walked among the crowd, looking at the familiar and unfamiliar faces. He smiled and patted the chests of the familiar people, and greeted the faces he was seeing for the first time with warmth.

He recognized the names, but couldn't match them with the faces.

"Everyone, do you know what's above our heads?" Zhou Yi asked with a smile.

"I don't know!" a somewhat immature-looking face boldly asked.

"Kid, up here is the imperial city of the Yuan Kingdom!" Zhou Yi's words caused a stir of surprise throughout the tunnel. They were led into the tunnel from various directions by their captain, and then they made their way through the winding underground tunnel.

Some places were only wide enough for two people to walk side by side, while the place they were in now was spacious enough for a horse-drawn carriage to run through.

"We've been digging and digging here for fifteen years!" Zhou Yi grinned at the several weathered old faces: "Er Gouzi, leeches, right?"

The two chuckled: "Yes, Dean, in the beginning, it stank horribly down there, we suffered terribly back then!"

"Look at you ungrateful people. Back then, the emperors, empresses, princes and princesses of the Great Yuan Dynasty all pooped on this spot. They ate and drank the best food every day. How could their poop not smell bad?" Zhou Yi laughed loudly.

The people in the tunnel laughed. "Master, are we here to assassinate their emperor this time?" another person asked, looking eager and not at all afraid, but rather extremely impatient. "This is a big deal! If we do it, we'll be remembered in history. From now on, whenever anyone mentions us, we can rightfully be called the greatest assassins in the world!"

“Wrong!” Zhou Yi shook his head and said, “We are not here to kill people today, but to save them.”

"Who should we save?" someone asked.

“Of course it’s the Second Prince of the Great Yuan, Tiele!” Zhou Yi smiled and said, “Today, we finally received the latest intelligence. Akdun has already dealt with his father. Next, he will deal with the ministers. Of course, the most important thing is to get rid of Tiele. If I’m not mistaken, Tiele should be on his way to the palace now.”

"They're fighting like dogs, isn't that bad for us? Why should we save them?"

“If Aktun kills Tiele, then the entire Northern Yuan will belong to Aktun! What good will that do us?” Zhou Yi said with a smile, “We don’t like a unified Northern Yuan. What we need most is a divided Northern Yuan, one that fights to the death.”

"Understood!"

"Gentlemen," Zhou Yi said, "without a doubt, today is the biggest battle since the establishment of our Azure Dragon Brigade. I don't want to hide it from you, but it is also the most dangerous battle. I can't guarantee that any of you will leave here alive. After all, this is the Imperial City, and outside the Imperial City is Yandu. I won't even mention the martial arts masters in Yandu; the garrison alone numbers a full 30,000." He continued, "What I can guarantee you is that those who survive will return to Tai'an City and enjoy your wealth and honor. Those who die will have their families directly awarded silver medals by Tai'an City, and those with great merit may even receive gold medals. It is said that the blessings of a virtuous person last for five generations. If we win this battle, your merits can benefit your children and grandchildren for three generations. Isn't that worth it?"

"Of course it's worth it!" Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this.

Everyone dies eventually. If one can exchange one's own death for the wealth and honor of three generations of one's children and grandchildren, then what is not worth it?
It's totally worth it!

And you might not even die!

It would be even better if she could survive.

"Alright, everyone, let's conserve our energy and wait to play this high-level game with your captain!" Zhou Yi chuckled. "If you can play a game like this in your life, you'll have no regrets even if you die!"

More than a thousand team members sat down on the ground one by one, and the few torches in the tunnel went out one by one, plunging the entire tunnel into darkness and deathly silence.

Zhou Yi led several team leaders into a secret room around the corner.

A large bead shimmering with a soft white light made the map hanging on the wall of the secret room clearly visible.

This is a topographical map of the imperial palace.

"The Tiele will enter the city through the East Gate and then enter the Imperial City through the Xuanwu Gate. Akdun chose to make his move here. According to our inside information, Akdun has deployed three thousand men around the Xuanwu Gate, led by Azaxi himself, to kill the Tiele."

"Wow, Tiele is only at the peak of the eighth rank, and Azaxi should be at the ninth rank of the Profound Origin realm, yet he's leading three thousand men?"

"Don't forget, the Tiele have a master of innate cultivation by their side!" Zhou Yi said calmly. "However, I heard that Akdun also persuaded their national teacher, Bashiba. If Bashiba doesn't interfere, it's fine, but once he does, the Tiele's lives will be in danger. So, the timing of our intervention must be perfect! Gao Wuyang, you are in charge of this matter. You must protect the Tiele and help them break out of the capital. Once they are out of the palace, they will have more room to maneuver. And once they escape Yandu, everything will be fine. Yeli will definitely be outside the East City at that time."

"Understood!" a wiry, bearded man nodded.

"Zhou Huan, you take the second team to support Gao Wuyang and me. Remember, we must choose the right time to deploy our forces. We must not let the enemy figure out how many people we have, and we must not let the enemy know who we are."

“At that time, we will definitely make everyone believe that this was a scheme orchestrated by the Second Prince. I believe that by then, the Tiele will also admit it,” Zhou Huan said with a smile.

"He Zheng, your mission is to kill!" Zhou Yi smiled and pointed to a spot, saying, "The Hall of Diligent Governance, that deadbeat Ying Zhuo's body is lying there, and almost all the important figures in the Yuan Kingdom are being held captive by Akdun there. Rush in along the sewers and kill everyone you see, but don't kill Akdun too. He has to live. Remember, timing is crucial. You can't make a move while Phagpa is still there, otherwise, your two or three hundred men won't be enough for him to kill."

“I will give you a signal!” Zhou Yi continued, “With a pop, fireworks will bloom, which means that Phagpa and Duanmu Miaomiao have started fighting. At that time, you should rush out and do your job. However, even though Phagpa is not here, don’t be careless. There are some experts among the important officials of the Yuan Kingdom here.”

He Zheng raised the crossbow in his hand. "Surprise attack, Headmaster. The poison on these arrows was personally prepared by the young master. So what if he's a master? If he gets even a little bit on them, he'll be lucky to escape with his skin intact!"

"We have two objectives in this battle. First, to rescue Tiele so that he can turn around and attack Yandu with tens of thousands of men from the Eastern Camp. Second, to wipe out most of the Yuan Dynasty's high-ranking officials. Once these guys are dead, the entire Yuan Kingdom will be in an uproar. Only then will we have time outside the Great Wall to slowly clean up the mess left by Linghu Ye!"

Gao Wuyang tugged at his long beard and said, "Headmaster, sometimes I just feel like our young master isn't human. Tell me, how did he come up with all these tricks, and why did he start planning them so many years in advance? Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine. Luckily, we're the young master's men, otherwise we'd be tricked to death by him and wouldn't even know how we died!"

“Very good, I will pass on your evaluation of the young master!” Zhou Yi was still smiling like a flower.

"No!" Gao Wuyang immediately exclaimed anxiously.

(End of this chapter)